Railroad crossing structure



June 30, 1970 T. G. HooPER RAILROAD CROSSING STRUCTURE Ill T V- FIT-l- ITT Il: |l l I LI 3/ /6 30 F'|G.4 a if( Y 1 JP l J4 /M y nm lNvENToR 77/0/14/16 6T #O0/55e nlm, 9' @ra/IZ ATTORNEYS United States Patent Olhce 3,517,882 Patented June 30, 1970 3,517,882 RAILRGAD CROSSING STRUCTURE Thomas G. Hooper, 2246 3rd St., Wyandotte, Mich. 48192 Filed Jan. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 698,844 Int. Cl. E01b 2/00 U.S. Cl. 238-8 10 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to improvements in railway road grade crossing structures and more particularly to an improved steel plank structure. The crossing structural unit of this invention is formed from a plurality of structural elements each of which comprises a series of undersupports and steel planks having a top plate coated with an adherent epoxy impregnated with an abrasive grit to provide a surface with `a high coecient of friction.

Background of the invention This invention relates to improvements in railway road grade crossing structures and more particularly to an improved sheet metal crossing str-ucture.

A conventional means of constructing a railway road grade crossing is to place a plurality of long Wooden railroad ties or planks adjacent and parallel to the rails Kand the road surface. This method of constructing a road grade crossing has proved to be very expensive because of the high labor cost involved in both the initial construction and subsequent maintenance of the wooden crossing structure. Such a structure is subject to substantial deterioration due to the natural elements of its environment and the heavy traffic loads to 'which it is often subjected. Such a structure is also costly to remove and replace when cleaning the ballast and inspecting the rail anchorages.

Several steel crossing structures have been developed as a substitute for the wooden ties to substantially reduce the deterioration of the crossing structure due to the natural elements of its environment. However, most of these steel structures provide -a vehicle traction surface with a low coeicient of friction which increases the tendency of vehicles to skid or go out of control when crossing the railroad tracks. This problem is particularly acute in adverse Weather conditions. Typical prior steel railway road grade crossing structures are illustrated by U.S. patents issued to Muchnic No. 1,154,534, Jones No. 1,598,584, Dailey et al. Re. 17,-2'39, Price et al. No. 1,729,- 360, Wojciechowski No. 1,845,693, Cassels No. 3,044,- 586, Lieuhard No. 2,128,753, Johnson No. 2,854,194 and Nagin No. 2,960,918.

In brief, this invention solves the above and other problems by providing a crossing structural unit formed from several structural elements which comprise a series of undersupports which are parallel to each other, spaced to overlie ties and substantially perpendicular and rigidly attached to top planks formed in a generally U-shaped configuration -from sheet steel and having an adherent vehicle traction surface formed on the top of the planks by a coating of epoxy resin impregnated with abrasive grit. By using standard structural steel shapes the structural elements can be fabricated at low initial cost and readily installed and removed by relatively unskilled labor.

Description of the invention This invention relates to railway road grade crossings and more particularly to an improved steel plank crossing structure.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a railway crossing device which can be readily and inexpensively fabricated from standard steel structural components prior to shipment to the crossing site for installation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rail- Iway crossing device having a traction surface with a relatively high coeicient of friction.

Another object of this invention is to provide a crossing structure which is relatively impenvious to the elements of the natural environment in which the device is used.

Another object of this invention is to provide a crossing structure which can be readily fabricated for ruse with rails of various heights and widths and which can be solidly anchored to existing ties.

Another object of this invention is to provide a prefabricated railway crossing device which can be readily installed and removed by relatively unskilled labor.

Other objects and features of this invention will be apparent from the following description and claims in which there is found the manner of making and using the invention and the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention.

Drawings accompany this disclosure and the various views thereof may be described as:

FIG. l, a perspective view of the crossing structure of this invention installed on a railway road grade crossmg.

FIG. 2, a top view of -a portion of the crossing structure installed adjacent to a rail.

FIG. 3, a side elevational view of a portion of the crossing structure secured to a plurality of railroad ties.

FIG. 4, an end View of the crossing structure installed f adjacent to a pair of rails mounted on railroad ties.

Referring to the drawings:

In PIG. 1, a crossing structure designated generally as 10 secured to ties 12 by fastening elements 14 and located adjacent to a rail 16 and a road surface 18 such as concrete or asphalt, is shown. The crossing structural unit 10 comprises three basic structural elements each of which is composed of a plurality of planks 20 and a plurality of undersupports 22.v The number and speciiic dimensions of structural elements used to form a crossing structural unit will depend on the number of pairs of rails 16, the spacing between the pairs of rails and between a rail and the adjacent road surface and the width of the road surface or crossing.

Each undersupport 22 is formed in a generally U- shaped configuration from a suitable material such as steel with a base portion 24 and side portions 26 each of which has at least one notch 28 in its edge 30. The steel planks 20 are formed in a. generally inverted U- shaped configuration from a suitable material such as steel having a top plate surface 31 and sides 32. The undersupports 22 are arranged so that they are in substantially parallel spaced relationship to each other and the steel planks are positioned so that they are substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the undersupports 22 with each plank engaging a portion of each notched edge 30 of the undersupport. The planks are spaced about 1A inch apart to allow for drainage of rain and melting snow. The undersupports 22- are rigidly attached to the planks 20 by a suitable means such as submerged welding. Perhaps as best shown in FIG. 4, at least one of the ends of each side 26 of each undersupport is formed with a protrusion 34 to provide adequate clearance between the rail 16 and the crossing structure 10. The structural elements can be fabricated to cooperate with rails 16 of various heights by varying the height of the sides 26 of the undersupports 22. Initial fabrication of the structural elements at the correct height to cooperate with a particular rail height eliminates the need for shims, thereby facilitating the installation and maintenance of the Igrade crossing unit 10. The undercut below the protrusions 34 is large enough to accommodate rails of different sizes.

In the preferred embodiment of this device, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each crossing structure is formed from three undersupports 22 positioned to overlie at least a yportion of alternate ties 12 and two or more planks 22.

In the preferred embodiment the two undersupports 22 which are spaced furthest from each other are positioned so that each of the two undersupports overlies not more than one-half of the ties 12 with which it is associated. If the ties 12 are spaced on 191/2 inch centers in accordance with the standard tie spacing specifications of the American Association of Railroads, each crossing structure will be approximately 6 ft. 6 in. in length. Therefore, four such structures placed adjacent to each other would span a distance of 26 ft. which is an adequate width to provide a crossing structural unit for a standard undivided two-lane highway having 12 ft. lanes. A plurality of apertures 36 in the base 24 of each undersupport 22 and fastening elements 14 provide an adequate means of securing the undersupport 22 directly and tightly to the tie 12 which it overlies. A plurality of apertures 38 is provided in each plank 20 to facilitate the driving and removal of the fastening elements 14. The fastening elements 14 are preferably lag bolts with a square or hexagonal head to be controlled by a headed socket wrench which will pass through holes 318 in the top planks. This permits the base portions to be solidly fastened to the rails and prevents Wear on the shaft of the fastener which would result if it passed through the entire structure from the top. The preferred embodiment of the structural elements is formed from commercially available steel channels to reduce the cost of initial fabrication of the structural elements. In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1, the center structural element has five planks 20 and the outer elements each have two planks 20. In the preferred embodiment each plank 20 is a standard inch wide channel.

At least the top plate of each plank is coated with an abrasive grit to provide the plank 20 with a traction surface having a high coefficient of friction. This minimizes vehicle skidding which is associated with uncoated relatively smooth steel surfaces. In the preferred embodiment of this device, this coating is applied by covering the top surface with one coat of an epoxy resin which can be air cured or heated to accelerate curing. Before curing of the first coat, a layer of abrasive grit is applied and then a second coating is put over the grit and the first coating. Upon curing, the grit is solidly anchored to the surface to provide suitable traction characteristics. A suitable epoxy is an amine type epoxy and a suitable grit is a silica grit such as used for sand blasting.

This invention provides a composite crossing section dimensioned to fit standard tie spacings and standard rail spacings. Suitable side structures for outside the rails are provided in the same length. The use of notches 28 to anchor the sides 32 of the adjacent top planks simplifies the structure and locks the top planks against shifting by the inherent physical interlock of the parts. This permits the drainage spacing between the planks and not only reduces damaging strains on the weld connections but also increases the inherent strength of top structure and increases the weld area between the parts. Thus the use of the double channel construction with the notch interlock creates a maximum resistance vto torsion. It is also possible to provide this interlocking structure by placing a series of notches in the planks rather than the undersupports.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A prefabricated railway crossing structure element for use with rails supported by spaced ties or the like which comprises; at least two generally U-shaped metallic undersupports each having a base lying parallel to and on spaced ties and sides extending upwardly with each side having at least one notch therein at the top edge thereof, at least two inverted generally U-shaped metallic top planks each having a base providing a top surface for the structure and each having sides extending downwardly, the planks being substantially parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the undersupports with adjacent sides of adjacent planks extending into and contacting the respective edges of their associated notch, the base of each plank contacting and being supported by the top edges of the sides of the undersupports adjacent the notches, and means securing each plank to each undersupport in a rigidly interlocked prefabricated assembly.

2. A prefabricated railway crossing structure as defined in claim 1 in which said means securing each plank to each undersupport comprises welds of at least a part of said contacting portions of said undersupports and planks.

3. A prefabricated railway crossing structure as defined in claim 1 in which each base of each undersupport is provided with a plurality of apertures each to receive a bolt to anchor the said base to a railroad tie, and each base of each plank is apertured to register with the apertures in the undersupports to permit insertion of the bolts and a tool to drive the bolts.

4. A prefabricated railway crossing structure as defined in claim 1 in which the notches in the sides of the undersupports are of a width greater than the thickness of two side walls of the planks to allow a drainage space between the planks.

5. A prefabricated railway road crossing structural unit for use with one or more pairs of rails supported by spaced ties or the like which comprise three or more crossing structure elements as defined in claim 1 at least one of which is positioned between each pair of rails.

6. A prefabricated railway crossing structure as defined in claim 1 which also comprises an abrasive grit adhered to at least a portion of the top surfaces of the planks.

7. A prefabricated railway crossing structure as defined in claim 6 in which the top surfaces of the planks are provided respectively and sequentially with a coating of epoxy resin, a coating of abrasive grit, and a second coating of epoxy resin.

8. A prefabricated railway crossing structure as defined in claim 1 in which the two parallel undersupports farthest from each other are laterally spaced so that each of the two undersupports and the planks overlap not more than one half of the tie with which each of said two undersupports is associated.

9. A prefabricated railway crossing structure as defined in claim 8 having only three undersupports laterally spaced so that they rest on alternate railway ties or the like.

10. A prefabricated railway road crossing structure unit for use with one or more pairs of rails supported by spaced ties or the like which comprises three or more crossing structual elements as defined in claim l8 at least one of which is positioned between each pair of rails.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,645,622 10/ 1927 Prince 238-8 1,932,895 10/1933 Humphries 23S-8 1,979,790 ll/1934 Bell 238-8 2,854,194 9/1958 Johnson 23S-8 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner 

